October 2, 2010 - As of Friday, October 1, 2010 an increase in the tobacco tax pushed cigarette prices up by a record-high 60 yen (0.72 USD) to 140 yen (1.68 USD) per 20-cigarette pack, as tobacco shops worried about a drop in business and many smokers vowed to kick the habit.

The smoking rate in Japan in 2008 was 36.8 percent for men and 9.1 percent for women. To help bring these numbers down, the health ministry has proposed another tobacco tax increase as part of tax system reform for fiscal 2011, stating that tobacco prices in this country are still low compared to other advanced nations.

According to a survey conducted on 316 smokers by pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson K.K. before the hike, about 60 percent said they would quit. Of these, 58 percent cited financial reasons.

The price of Mild Seven, the most popular brand sold by Japan Tobacco Inc., rose from 300 yen (3.60 USD) to 410 yen (4.93 USD) per pack. A pack of Marlboro from Philip Morris Japan K.K. went from 320 yen (3.85 USD) to 440 yen (5.29 USD).

After closing Thursday, September 30th the Amaya Shoten tobacco shop in a business district in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, put new price tags on about 100 brands of cigarettes on its shelves. Only four customers came to the shop Friday, October 1st between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., although it usually sees more than 20 salaried workers during that time. Sales from September 20 to 30 were 4.5 times more than in the same period last year."It's inevitable that we'll have few customers for a while, but I'm worried whether they'll come back," said shop operator Toshiyuki Amaya, 55.

October 2, 2010 - The Lebanese National Tobacco Control Program (NTCP) estimates that some 75 percent of Lebanese children are regularly exposed to SHS (second hand smoke, SHS, environmental smoking, ETS, passive smoking, involuntary smoking, sidestream smoke) 150,000 youngsters could die prematurely if exposure is not severely limited, they added. “Exposure to SHS is a major cause of premature death and disease in non-smokers,” a 2008 NTCP-sponsored study lead by Dr Georges Saade, found. “[SHS exposure] among children is a major pediatric problem and is associated with increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome, acute respiratory infections, ear problems, and increased severity of asthma symptom.”revealed.

The NTCP is now urging the government to fast-track proposed tobacco control legislation currently “stuck” in discussions by the Parliament’s Administrative and Justice Committee. While the organization and human rights activists would like to see a total ban on smoking in public places enacted as soon as possible, certain business interests argue that introducing the ban would hit the entertainment industry and reduce tax and advertising revenue.

Smoking instance in Lebanon is among the highest in the region, but, unlike its neighbors who have begun to introduce smoking bans, the country has done little to curb prevalence or protect non-smokers. Syria and Turkey have both enacted public smoking bans with little impact on businesses, activists claim.

Narguileh is a water pipe. Sitting in a smoking cafe serving narguileh is as bad for your health as sitting in Beirut’s famous Salim Slam Tunnel during rush-hour, new findings have shown. Cancer-causing pollution levels inside one of Beirut’s busiest passageways are roughly equal to those found in 15 of the capital’s restaurants that sold water pipes, research conducted by the Health Ministry-affiliated National Tobacco Control Program (NTCP) has revealed.Based on World Health Organization (WHO) standards levels in the tunnel proved to be almost 18 times higher than acceptable levels, while those in cafes were on average 15 times the levels considered safe for human health. Almost half of the cafes surveyed, however, actually had higher levels than Salim Slam, with one being 25 times more polluted, the NTCP found.

“The difference between the two locations, is that in restaurants that serve narguileh, you sit for hours, while it takes less than a minute to pass through Salim Slem Tunnel – most of the time with the windows closed,” the NTCP said.

Because of its sweet smell, narguileh is often considered to be less harmful to health than cigarettes, but a mounting body of scientific evidence is discrediting this assumption and proving that “hookah” (Sheesha, hubble-bubble, Shisha, Hookah, Narghile, Waterpipe) is just as dangerous. It is estimated that water pipe sessions lasting 30 minutes may generate similar emissions to a single cigarette smoked for around 10 minutes.

Lebanese restaurant pollution figures for the recent comparison are taken from the 2008 report, but with no changes in smoking legislation – and the practice continuing largely unchecked in most establishments – it is assumed that hazard levels have remained relatively constant.

October 2, 2010 - Area businesses say cigarette butts have become a big problem since a smoking ban passed in Columbia two years ago (began October 1, 2008).

Background: Columbia passed a no smoking ordinance in November of 2006, but it was not enforced until the South Carolina Supreme Court upheld the validity of cities enacting no smoking provisions. The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled in March 2008 that cities and counties could pass such ordinances, and the Court outlined how local no smoking ordinances must be enforced. (Columbia Should Pass a Comprehensive No Smoking Ordinance May 2008)

The city extended the ban to include restaurants, and perhaps most controversial, bars starting October 1, 2008. A similar ban was be put in place in Richland County - the ban applied to unincorporated areas of Richland County not in the City of Columbia. City smoking ban in bars, restaurants beginsWIST.tv, 10/5/2008)

To help combat the butts, business owners are helping by ordering cigarette receptacles. Some have already been ordered in the Vista and may end up in places like Five Points. Kelly Tabor owns Good for the Soul Shoes in Five Points, and says he's tired of picking up butts on the sidewalk in front of his shoe store. "It just clutters up everything," said Tabor. "It makes the city look dirty." Tabor just ordered a cigarette receptacle. "Oh I think it's going to be fantastic," he said. "I'm hoping people will use them." Tabor believes if more businesses in Five Points buy receptacles, people will do the right thing.

"That cigarette butts' gonna be here for years," said Tabor. "It'll eventually make it's way in to the streams and rivers and it's a source of pollution. They need to think twice about tossing it or throwing it down on the ground."

The theme of the conference is 'FCTC in the Asia Pacific: Change, Challenge, and Progress'. The aim of this conference is to encourage tobacco control and public health advocates, researchers, practitioners, policy makers and especially youth leaders to share experiences and discuss strategies for implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and for dealing with the tobacco industry.

Lord Bracadale threw out the company's legal challenge and said Scottish ministers were within their legislative rights to restrict tobacco sales to safeguard public health, particularly among teenagers and young adults.

The ruling is a significant setback for Imperial and other tobacco manufacturers. The company, which has a 45% share of UK cigarette sales and 58% of tobacco sales, is pursuing a similar legal action in London to overturn a ban on over-the-counter displays due to come into force in England and Wales in October 2011.

It now faces the prospect that this challenge may also fail, but Imperial reacted to the Scottish ruling by indicating it was likely to appeal and insisted today's judgment had no bearing on its legal action in England and Wales. The company argues that the devolved government in Edinburgh does not have the legislative power to introduce the main bill, the Tobacco & Primary Services Act, which has brought the controls into force. (UK - Vending Machines..Imperial Tobacco seeks Judicial Review..)

In a short statement, Imperial said its subsidiary Sinclair Collis, the UK's largest cigarette vending machine company, was still pursuing its legal challenge to the vending machine ban in Scotland. A two-week hearing is due to start in the civil court in Edinburgh, the court of session, at the end of October. Sinclair Collis is pursuing a similar case in London.

The company added that it could also still challenge the forthcoming Scottish government regulations on the precise controls banning over-the-counter displays. "Imperial will consider its position once these regulations are published," the company said.

In today's ruling, Lord Bracadale rejected Imperial's argument that the Scottish legislation involved consumer law and the control of the sale of products to consumers – areas which are reserved to Westminster. The judge concluded that the act's purpose "was to reduce smoking of tobacco among children and young persons and thereby improve public health in the long term". That was not a reserved matter under the Scotland Act 1998 that created the Scottish parliament. Bracadale also rejected suggestions that the act was in conflict with freedom of trade provisions in the Act of Union which unified the Scottish and English parliaments in 1707."Freedom of trade should be interpreted as relating to a common market," he said. "An examination of the historical context in which the acts of union were passed made it clear that the paramount concern on the Scottish side of entering the union with England was gaining entrance to the common market of England and her colonies."

Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish health secretary, said that her government was pleased by Bracadale's ruling. "We robustly defended our proposals in court," she said. "Banning the display of tobacco products in shops will help to discourage a future generation of smokers. We are committed to doing all we can to improve the nation's health and cutting smoking rates is a key part of this drive."

Scottish government officials said they were now pressing ahead with implementing the new measures.

Sheila Duffy, the chief executive of the anti-smoking campaign group Ash Scotland, said she was delighted. The industry always sought to "dilute, derail or delay" new legislation which affected its income, she said. In April, Imperial reported six-monthly pre-tax profits of £974m. "It is these huge profits – nearly £1bn being made in just six months – that are then being ploughed into challenging the aims of governments around the world to use legislation to reduce the major harm caused by smoking to their citizens' public health," Duffy said. "In this case, it is Scotland's aim to reduce the rates of children smoking."

The Act enters into force as soon as Friday, October 1, 2010. According to the new tobacco act, smoking among children and adolescents is forbidden. Neither shops nor private persons are allowed to sell or provide tobacco products to a minor under 18 from October 1, 2010. Any person who sells a single cigarette or buys a packet of cigarettes from a shop for a minor can be fined or sentenced to prison for a maximum of six months. According to the new legislation, persons under the age of 18 are banned from importing and possessing tobacco products and importing can attract a fine. In addition, sellers of tobacco products must be aged at least 18 years in the future.

The prohibition on display of tobacco products as well as the restrictions on smoking in hotel rooms enter into force at the beginning of 2012. The vending machines for tobacco products will be forbidden as from the beginning of 2015.

Bans on smoking will be extended to places used by children and youngsters, the public venues of residential areas, outdoor public places and hotel rooms.

"We know we can never completely end smoking but several civic groups are working under the slogan 'Smoke-free Finland in 2040,'" said Ismo Tuominen from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. "General opinion seems to be in favor of adopting tighter controls."

Tobacco advertising has been banned in Finland for more than 30 years and in 1995 smoking was forbidden in workplaces, public buildings and on public transport, and was extended in 2007 to bars and restaurants. In 2000, a law labeled smoke as "a carcinogenic, hazardous substance." Sales of chewing tobacco and snuff are also banned, but can be imported for personal consumption.

"The idea is to restrict the presence and visibility of tobacco to stop children and youth taking up the habit," Tuominen said. "We hope other countries will follow suit." Young age groups are the ministry's greatest concern. Tuominen said that now more 16-year-old girls smoke than boys of the same age. "It's a worrying trend and we don't really know why it's happening," he said.Reference: Finland's strict smoke-free law enters into force, Xinhua News Agency - Source: iStockAnalyst, 10/1/2010; Finland Banishes Marlboros From Shelves to Stub Out Smoking by Kati Pohjanpalo (kpohjanpalo@bloomberg.net) and Nicole Itano (editor responsible for this story: Tasneem Brogger at tbrogger@bloomberg.net), Bloomberg.com, 10/1/2010.

Czech President Vaclav Klaus, a nonsmoker and active athlete who is particularly fond of hiking, took part in the celebratory opening Wednesday, September 29th of an expanded Philip Morris tobacco and cigarette production plant in the medieval Czech city Kutna Hora.

Before cutting the ribbon to open the new plant, which now can produce 40 million cigarettes annually compared with 30 million previously, Mr. Klaus, 69, said the methods the EU is proposing to reduce smoking are ludicrous, adding that more bureaucracy can stifle or even kill business.

The European Commission last week launched a public consultation period ahead of the revision of the bloc’s Tobacco Products Directive, a set of guidelines for the tobacco industry. Measures being floated for the updated directive include more restrictive rules on tobacco sales, double-sided pictorial warnings on cigarette packages illustrating the dangers of smoking, as well as a proposal that, if approved, would require all brands of cigarettes to be sold in “plain” [read: generic] packaging. The EU aims to adopt the updated rules in 2012. Similar proposals in the U.K. were floated earlier this year.Mr. Klaus: “Prohibitions can never solve anything,” adding that he came to the factory reopening to support a going concern that is actually investing and increasing the size of its operations. Without a doubt, corporate investment rather than cash-hording is crucial if Europe wants to keep its recovery on track. And so long as tobacco is still legal in Europe, Mr. Klaus has a valid argument that companies involved in the industry should be allowed to compete.

He added that he was not “celebrating cigarettes” but reiterated that he was bringing attention to sought after investment.

Sometimes Klaus’s contrarian (person with a preference for taking a position opposed to that of the majority view prevalent in the group of which they are a part) views may look tainted, for example having international translations and publishing of his anti-environmentalist book Blue Planet in Green Chains funded by various oil companies.

September 30, 2010 - The second South Carolina Tobacco Summit will be held at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center in beautiful downtown Columbia on October 1, 2010. The theme, “Traveling Beyond the Boundaries: The Future of Evidence-based Tobacco Control,” will provide informative and educational opportunities for tobacco advocates and healthcare providers, and will highlight emerging tobacco products over a luncheon keynote.

September 30, 2010 - On October 1st, cigarette taxes in Japan will rise for the first time in four years, forcing smokers to shell out about 3.5 yen (0.042 USD) per cigarette -- a sharp increase.

The tobacco tax hike will probably not be the last, as the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is looking to keep bumping the tax up until Japanese rates are on par with those in Europe and North America. The Ministry of Finance, on the other hand, is less keen to see further increases, as it worries overall tax revenue will fall as people give up smoking in the face of rising prices per pack.

So which has higher priority, health or tax revenue? The debate on this question looks to continue well after the coming tobacco tax hike, but one thing is certain: Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT) -- formerly a government-owned tobacco monopoly -- is nervous. 50% of JT is owned by the Japanese government.

Including the hike set for October, tobacco taxes have been raised four times since 1998. That year, the price of a single cigarette went up 0.82 yen, followed by rises of 0.82 yen and 0.852 yen in 2003 and 2006. However, the coming increase is different from the past three in two major ways. First, the hike is being backed by the health ministry, not the finance ministry, and second it is much larger, exacerbating a 1.5 yen per cigarette increase from high tobacco leaf prices. The end result is a per-pack price increase of between 110 yen (1.32 USD) and 140 yen (1.68 USD).

Under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Japan and the some 170 other signatory nations are expected to establish taxes on tobacco. Though it's well known that tobacco causes serious health problems, a 2008 health and nutrition survey found that 36.8 percent of Japanese men smoked, outstripping North American and European figures by more than 20 points.(Japan Tobacco - annual survey, smoking incidence continues to fall..) Perhaps not coincidentally, a pack of cigarettes costs the equivalent of about 1,008 yen (12.07 USD) in the United Kingdom and about 757 yen (9.06 USD) in Canada -- significantly more than the Japanese price. The health ministry is determined to close the gap, stating, "There is room to increase prices to around 700 yen (8.38 USD) per pack, in line with Western nations."

Though the Finance Ministry may be fretting over losing tax-paying smokers, Japan is also facing a steadily increasing load of medical expenses. According to the results of a health ministry survey released in 2002, medical costs for ailments connected to smoking and second-hand smoke inhalation totaled an estimated 1.3 trillion yen in fiscal 1999. Meanwhile, the survey said hospitalization and death caused by such ailments cost the Japanese economy some 7 trillion yen in lost labor and other damages.

"Because of resistance from tobacco industry groups and Diet members with connections to that industry, Japan has not built a comprehensive tobacco regulation system," says Ryuzo Ono, a professor of oncology at Aichi Shukutoku University's Faculty of Medical Welfare. "The world trend in tobacco regulation policy cannot be stopped, and the government needs to show resolve on the issue."

Japan Tobacco counts on Russia and other markets in eastern Europe to spur earnings as it expects domestic sales to fall 16 percent this fiscal year because of a planned tax increase on October 1st. The region accounts for almost half of Japan Tobacco’s overseas cigarette sales by volume, according to the company.

September 30, 2010 - British American Tobacco (BAT) has placed on its website a short film presenting a dramatized account of how some anti-tobacco initiatives are tending to increase the illicit trade in tobacco products.

September 30, 2010 - Owners of small pubs in the Netherlands have welcomed the lifting of a smoking ban imposed on the hospitality industry in 2008. The partial scrapping of the measure was announced on Tuesday.

The incoming rightwing government is responding to persistent complaints from one-man businesses who argued that the smoking ban was meant to guarantee staff a smoke-free working environment. Since they had no employees, their small pubs didn't need the smoking ban, the owners claimed.

The ban will remain in force, however, for pubs, restaurants and the like which are run with personnel.

Secretary Wiel Maessen of the 1250 small pubs' umbrella group KHO said "I lit an extra cigarette when I heard the news." He added that despite his satisfaction on behalf of his members, the fight would not be over until the ban was lifted for the entire sector.

For further information on smoking policy take a look at the related news briefs below.

Penang - Coat-of-Arms.. September 30, 2010 - GEORGE TOWN (the capital of Penang state) - smoking will only be allowed in gazetted areas (a restricted area) under a proposal by the state government to make Penang 'smoke free'. If such a proposal gets the nod from the Health Ministry, it will certainly give smokers in the state a 'harder' time. State Health, Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh said it had handed the proposal to the Health Ministry.

'Instead of gazetting non-smoking areas, we have proposed to the ministry for the situation to be reversed. We will gazette the areas where people can smoke. 'We want to encourage the people to discipline themselves, rather than using laws alone to solve the problem,' he said, adding that the proposal was aimed at creating a healthier state. 'This step does not discriminate against the smokers' right. However, we are concerned about them and their family's health,' he said after flagging off a walkathon organised by the Penang Adventist Hospital.

Consumer groups welcomed the proposal, describing it as the right move towards a healthier society. Fomca secretary-general Muhd Sha'ani Abdullah said Penang could implement the smoke-free rule in municipal areas under the Local Government Act. 'They can declare smoke-free areas in all business premises and hotel rooms using the council's licensing powers,' he said.Click to enlarge..Consumers Association of Penang president S.M. Mohd Idris urged the state government to put up banners about the pictorial warning on cigarette packs within school compound and outside places of worship. 'The banners should be put up in primary schools to warn pupils about the dangers of smoking so that they don't pick up the habit,' he said. Mr Idris said although the Botanical Gardens here was a no-smoking zone, many people, especially tourists, were seen puffing away. -- THE STAR/ANN

September 30, 2010 - Tomorrow (September 30th) marks the third anniversary of the Freedom to Breathe Act,Minnesota's strong smoke-free law. (On May 16, 2007, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty signed the Freedom to Breathe Act of 2007, a comprehensive statewide law that will provide protections from secondhand smoke to the vast majority of Minnesota workers. The new law went into effect on October 1, 2007. Clear Way Minnesota, Freedom to Breathe..)

Three years later, it's still very popular, with few complaints and fewer violations.In fact, people sometimes tell me they barely remember a time when Minnesotans smoked in bars and restaurants. Some even ask, "Does anybody really smoke anymore?"

The sad truth is a lot of people still do, in Minnesota and across the country. In September, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a new report that is a reality check. It found that national smoking rates, which for decades had seen steady declines, have now flatlined at about 20 percent. That's less than a single percentage point change since 2004 -- six years ago.In Minnesota, our adult smoking rate is lower than the national average -- 17 percent. But the costs associated with tobacco use are still unacceptable: more than 5,500 deaths in our state each year, and nearly $2 billion spent on health care for patients with smoking-related diseases.

Why has the rate stopped declining? Two reasons. First, the tobacco industry has evolved for the times, coming up with clever new ways to market tobacco products; targeting kids and nonsmokers, and offering price discounts, "two-for-ones" and other incentives to keep existing tobacco users hooked.

Second, the stagnating smoking rates come at a time when states are losing focus on tobacco as a health issue and are funding tobacco prevention programs at lower levels. On the other hand, those states making strong commitments to prevention -- through higher cigarette prices, education and quitting help for smokers -- have some of the lowest smoking rates: Massachusetts (15 percent), Washington state (14.9 percent) and California (12.9 percent).

September 29, 2010 - Evan Blecher, a South African economist in the International Tobacco Control Research Program at the American Cancer Society predicts that tobacco consumption will double in the next 12 to 13 years in sub-Saharan Africa without major policy interventions. (Africa's struggle to be smoke free Original Text, Adele Baleta, The Lancet, Volume 375, Issue 9709, Pages 107 - 108, 9 January 2010)

Kenya is working hard to prevent this from occurring in its country. Dr William Maina, the Head of Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation Division of Non Communicable Diseases, on Tuesday, September 28th observed that tobacco use in the country among males had already reduced from 23 percent in 2003 to 18 percent in 2008/09. The Kenyan government has embarked on an ambitious strategy to gradually reduce smoking by five percent in five years to move to 13 percent,” he observed.He added that the government would put in place a framework that would jump start the tobacco cessation programme to support smokers quit the habit. Dr Maina however noted that women were fast picking up the habit thereby increasing the need to enhance campaigns against it. “Consumption of tobacco among school going children had gone up to 18.6 percent because they think smoking is sexy, stylish and cool.

Dr Maina also alleged that a lot of illegal tobacco was finding its way into the Kenyan market. He added that his ministry would combine efforts with the national tax collector to ensure that the culprits were apprehended. The figures are not even available at the Kenya Revenue Authority,” he claimed.

He further accused small scale tobacco sellers of ignoring the directive by government not to sell single cigarette sticks. “The Tobacco Control Act prohibits the sale of tobacco in sticks; they must be bought in a packet of not less than 10. It also prohibits sale of the drug through automatic vending machines because we want the retailers to determine the age of their consumer,” he said.

He added that the habit increased poverty in the country due to the number of deaths it caused: “It (tobacco smoking) causes all sorts of cancers and we all know that cancer treatment is not universally available in the country and it is very expensive so most of those who are affected are the poor”.

Dr Maina also cautioned tobacco smokers against continued use as it jeopardized their health. “Over half of the people who smoke cigarettes in their life time die. If you take 18 percent of the males in this country from the current population, you will find that we have six to eight million people in this country who are smokers and half of these will die from diabetes, amputation, heart and kidney diseases,” he said. He added that the habit put women at higher risk due to their genetic make up.

September 28, 2010 - The Anti-Tobacco Campaign law was ratified since 25th July 1998 and the Public Smoking Act assented to by the president but for some reasons was not enforced.

But now It is a welcome development to hear that the Gambia Police Force has committed itself to enforcing the anti-public smoking law. (The Gambia signed the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control on the 15th of June 2007 by the National Assembly, assented by the president on the 29th of October 2007.)

The re-enforcement stated that with effect from October 1st 2010 all cigarette packets being imported into The Gambia are required to bear the following health warnings in the format prescribed hereafter: On the front of every new cigarette packaging, the front of the packet should bear the inscription; “SMOKING KILLS", at the back of the packet, it should bear; "SMOKING SERIOUSLY HARMS YOU AND OTHERS AROUND YOU". On the sides of the packet should be written; “SOLD IN THE GAMBIA".

The Gambia Police Force in collaboration with sister security units in the country and the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, on Monday, September 27th organised a one-day sensitisation forum on the re-enforcement of anti-public smoking act at the Police headquarters in Banjul.

Further more information on the tobacco control actions to take place can be found in the reference below.

September 28, 2010 - After more than six years of study, design and focus groups, the federal government has halted its plan to require tobacco companies to update the warnings on the side of cigarette packages with larger and more grotesque images.Health Canada told provinces and territories attending a closed-door meeting in Newfoundland two weeks ago that its tobacco strategy will instead concentrate on the problem of contraband cigarettes, an issue that has been highlighted by the tobacco industry.

It is unclear why the government cannot pursue tobacco smugglers at the same time it is updating the warning labels.

Health Canada shared mock-ups of supersized new warning labels with public-health advocates more than a year ago — with regulations that were expected to be tabled in January 2010 to increase the warning size from their current 50 per cent to at least 70 per cent of the package's surface. Rob Cunningham, a tobacco control specialist at the Canadian Cancer Society, "The government's been working on this for years now and there has been some very unfortunate and inexplicable delays in a new round of cigarette packaging warnings." In a statement to Postmedia News, Health Canada said the department "continues to examine this issue" and "to review public-opinion research on the effectiveness of health-warning messages. "The findings from this research will help Health Canada have messages that will be noticed and effective for all Canadians." (August 12, 2010 - Health Canada - why delay in new round of cigarette pack pictorial warnings??)

The decision to walk away from the complex task of changing and enhancing the nine-year-old messages that are emblazoned on cigarette packages comes after the expense of much time, effort and millions of dollars of public money. The move surprised the provinces, which had been looking forward to the establishment of a toll-free line to help smokers quit. The number of that hotline was to have been incorporated into the new package design.

Officials of provinces contacted by The Globe and Mail on Monday, September 27th expressed disappointment in the federal government’s decision. Health Canada would say only that it “continues to examine the renewal of health warning messages on tobacco packaging but is not ready to move forward at this time.” The federal department had been examining the benefits of requiring tobacco companies to increase the warnings to cover 90 percent of the packages. It had also been evaluating the impact of new images, including one of a dying Alberta cancer patient, Barb Tarbox, who spent the last months of her life warning Canadians about the consequences of smoking.

Anti-tobacco lobby groups say they believe the government is afraid of taking on the big cigarette companies. “I would expect that the tobacco industry has been lobbying against these warnings just as they have lobbied against improvements to warnings on tobacco packages over the last 20 years,” said Rob Cunningham, a senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society.

Garfield Mahood, the executive director of the Non-Smokers Rights Association, said he has heard that, when the industry learned about the revisions that Health Canada was planning, “things started to slow right down.”

Eric Gagnon, a spokesman for Imperial Tobacco, said his company believes the existing warning labels are sufficient to convey the health risks associated with smoking. Everyone agrees that the biggest issue related to tobacco is contraband, said Mr. Gagnon. “So I think it would be important for Health Canada to put its efforts on the contraband issue.”

JTI-Macdonald, another big tobacco company, also said the government’s priority right now should be solving the huge problem of illegal tobacco.

New statistics released on Monday by the federal government show that fewer Canadians are giving up smoking. Between 1999 and 2005, the number of smokers over the age of 15 fell from 25 per cent of the population to 19 per cent. That’s a decline of six percentage points. But between 2005 and 2009, that figure dropped by just one percentage point.

Cynthia Callard, the executive director of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada, said the tobacco companies have been able to prevent many smoking-related health measures by threatening job losses and legal disputes. The fact that the federal government’s decision was announced to the provincial ministers behind closed doors, said Ms. Callard, “speaks to the fact that it doesn’t make sense and that there is something fishy going on.”